Interesantísimo artículo que da cuenta de como se articulan los momentos de relleno en diferentes juegos de la saga.

Cita:Filler Content DoesnÔÇÖt Always Work in Zelda



So, youÔÇÖve conquered the final temple in the game and are ready to take on Ganon himself. You return to the Temple of Time and await your final mission. But wait, before you can experience the final showdown, you actually have one more task to complete: going about the map and collecting large quantities of items that feel tacked-on and lack any real connection to the plot. ThatÔÇÖs right, you have entered something almost every game has: the notorious ÔÇ£filler content.ÔÇØ

So, what really is filler content? It is usually anything low-effort that was added into the game solely to pad it and make it just a few minutes longer. This can be from anything from running back and forth between several locations locations in order to save someoneÔÇÖs dying mother, collecting large quantities of objects in order to save someoneÔÇÖs dying father, fighting a long gauntlet of enemies in order to protect your dying sister, or anything that might overuse a gameÔÇÖs basic mechanics/story in a cliche way. Depending on how broadly you use the term, almost any aspect of the game can be labeled as just stuffing. That being said, filler content isnÔÇÖt usually a bad thing, and most games would be impossible to make without some form of it.

Whether itÔÇÖs a good thing or a bad thing, The Legend of Zelda features a lot of filler segments in the main storyline. The series usually implements these sections rather well, and they can become some of the most memorable parts of of the plot. Other times, however, the franchise has struggled to incorporate these portions into the main plot, making the section feel completely unnecessary in the process.

One of the absolute worst cases of poorly implemented filler in the entire franchise occurred while I was playing Skyward Sword last week. After completing the Eldin Volcano silent realm, I ran multiple water bottles back and forth between two locations in order to open up frog doors (not to mention if I missed the frog door with my water, Id be required to refill the bottle, Harvest Moon-style). Then, I was forced to fly to the forest in order to get a sacred water tank in order to open a giant, giga-frog door. So in total, I spent about forty-five minutes opening three doors all lined up in a row just so I could get into the temple and solve actual puzzles. Thats not necessary content or even filler disguised as necessary content; thats just bad game design.

But wait, thereÔÇÖs more. As I finally returned with the large surplus of water necessary for opening the final frog door, the game decided to throw one more curve ball at me. Instead of letting me teleport directly to the location I needed to be like usual, I arrived at the very base of the volcano. The robot carrying my water tank, Scrapper, was apparently too tired to fly his way to the summit of the volcano, and I had to lead him to the top myself, escort mission style.

The entire map had not changed since I had been there moments before, except for the new enemies that littered the pathway between point A and B. Hulking moblins covered just about every bridge I needed to cross. On top of that, if I let Scrapper take too much damage, I was teleported all the way back to the bottom of the map. None of the enemies I had killed prior to teleporting would respawn, I just had climb the entire volcano again.

It was at this point that I decided to take a break from this fiasco.

Tired of Skyward Sword but still yearning to play some iteration of The Legend of Zelda, I took a further step into the past and booted up an emulator of Majoras Mask. To me, it felt like a breath of fresh air compared to my recent experiences in the series 2011 title. As I was playing through the main storyline, I found myself having a much more enjoyable time. But then I started to notice what I was actually doing for gameplay: at the moment, I was swimming back and forth between a research lab and a pirate fortress, transporting Zora eggs in my bottles.

Now, IÔÇÖm no container-scientist, but transporting water back-and-forth in bottles while playing Skyward Sword seemed awfully similar to what I was doing in MajoraÔÇÖs Mask. And yet, I was having much more fun doing this menial, filler task than I was earlier. What was the difference?

Unlike my experience with Skyward SwordÔÇÖs frog doors, MajoraÔÇÖs MaskÔÇÖs Zora eggs had one major concept going for it: incentive. While one game was setting obvious blockades in the middle of the story, the other incorporated it into the story. MajoraÔÇÖs Mask made me excited to retrieve the Zora eggs not just because I had to push the story forward, but because the Zora eggs were the story itself. I cared about my current objective of seeing adorable zora babies hatch, and that feeling superseded my emotion towards the filler gameplay.

The best example of story elements making up for filler gameplay occurs in 2003ÔÇÖs Wind Waker. Very early into the game you are tasked with collecting three ÔÇ£Goddess Pearls.ÔÇØ The first two pearls require you to navigate through dungeons to receive each one, so you would assume that the third pearl would also accompany a dungeon. Instead the game takes a left turn, and replaces the precedented dungeon with something entirely different.

The gameplay consists mostly of sailing between three different locations, swinging on a few ropes, and firing bombs repeatedly at a wall until it cracks open. On paper, that sounds like a very obnoxious segment intended to save development time. And yet, it becomes one of the most memorable parts of the game.

Despite gameplay becoming rather scarce, this gives the game time to bring other features to the forefront so they can really shine. As you sail towards your destination, the gameÔÇÖs atmosphere is on full display. Stormclouds surround your boat as you dart through the water, and the overworldÔÇÖs theme is altered to sound more sinister, bringing home that sense of urgency and downright spookiness. Ambience then merges with the story, and you run into old friends, discover an ancient creature, and find a new item all in about hour of game time. This is a prime example of how filler content can be used to highlight other portions of a title.

Unfortunately, Wind Waker wasnÔÇÖt always great at utilizing unnecessary segments. One particular instance of filler was such a large, unimmersive roadblock that a large portion of those who never completed the game gave up at this particular part, including myself. In fact, an entire separate article can be written about just this portion of the game: the infamous Triforce pieces.

Before you can reach the final dungeon and defeat Ganon, you are tasked with finding the eight pieces of the Triforce of courage buried beneath the sea. First, you have to find the eight Triforce charts that are hidden within various islands puzzles. After that, youd assume that the game would only require you to salvage the actual pieces out of the ocean and move on, but the developers took it one step further. In order to actually use the Triforce chart, each chart must be taken to everyones favorite manchild, Tingle, in order to be deciphered for the extremely high (and oddly specific) price of 398 rupees. The largest rupee bag cannot carry enough money for every chart, meaning you are required to make multiple runs to collect more rupees.

The only merit to this section of the game is the certainty that you can freely explore anywhere in the overworld without being restricted by a specific item. Other than that, you are left completely alone in this test of tedium. There is no push from the story other than the occasional ÔÇ£stay on task!ÔÇØ reminder from your magical talking ship-person friend. Any urgency to push the plot forward goes out the window, and you are forced to unenthusiastically chip away at the daunting task. Without the desire to keep moving, the gameplay is revealed as what it truly is: bloated content.

But drawn-out, unnecessary segments aren't always centered around repetitive gameplay. Filler content can be nearly any detail of the game that feels tacked-on or overused. Perhaps the gameÔÇÖs aesthetics all look the same, or maybe the story takes a left-turn into a completely irrelevant, cliche subplot. All of that can still work well inside the game, though. Even if the plot stoops as low as ÔÇ£Who Link is going to take to the Hyrule prom,ÔÇØ the game can still be great as long as it shines in other ways.

The various ways unnecessary features can either be successfully implemented can be seen in two very similar quests found in The Legend of Zelda series: killing the shadow insects in Twilight PrincessÔÇÖs twilight realms, and collecting the tears inside Skyward SwordÔÇÖs silent realms. Both sections feature a very similar gameplay concept: in order to move forward in the plot, you must scour reused locations for various collectibles. Both titles do a great job with atmosphere in these sections as well, with the twilight realmÔÇÖs dark color pallette permeating seemingly normal locations and the silent realm muting its color scheme to accompany the areaÔÇÖs remixed music. Atmosphere, however, cannot carry filler content entirely, and each game addresses this in different ways.

In Twilight Princess, the collection task mostly requires you to explore key points of reused areas in order to slay the required amount of shadow insects. By itself, these sections can be an exercise in tedium, especially if you miss an insect and have to backtrack. Luckily, the developers made two intelligent decisions that aid in hiding this filler content. First, they put these collection sequences before you enter the area for the first time, making the exploration much more interesting than if it was done towards the end of the game. Secondly, cutscenes and character moments are peppered throughout the sequences, keeping you interested throughout the section. Those two secondary features (and the oddly dark implication that one of the insects actually straight-up murdered a guy) make the gameplay much more entertaining, and the sections succeed because of it.

Skyward SwordÔÇÖs silent realms, on the other hand, are a completely different type of unneeded segment... in which the plot itself is the filler content. Story is at its weakest at this point, and the entire section is explained to be some ÔÇ£magical spirit test to show how cool you are.ÔÇØ Adversely, this lets the new gameplay take the spotlight. Each silent realm is fast-paced and difficult, making the collection process less of a menial task and more of an exciting challenge. As the game progressed, I found myself looking forward to these portions of the game because of their well-executed change of pace. Getting hunted by Guardians is easily one of the most tense parts of the title. The game continues this nice pace by immediately rewarding you with an item after each part (like luscious volcano earrings, and a fish scale!). Even with story being at its weakest, what you are actually doing keeps the game enjoyable.

So, what have we learned? Filler content is used The Legend of Zelda with varying degrees of success. If done right, the drawn-out portion of story or gameplay can actually benefit the game by allowing its counterpart time in the spotlight. That doesnÔÇÖt mean the bloated segment is some loophole in order to spend less time to develop a game; it is simply a strategy to highlight a certain attribute of the title and to increase the gameÔÇÖs longevity at the same time. As the Legend of Zelda series continues, thereÔÇÖs no doubt that filler content will make an appearance one way or another. One can only hope that they learn from the mistakes of Triforce pieces and frog doors, and find better, more interesting ways to implement features that never, ever involve water bottles ever again.

http://www.zeldainformer.com/articles/fi...k-in-zelda

No está mal el artículo, pero si le haces caso, todo en un juego es relleno .

Aunque en lo que si tiene razón es en las diferentes formas de incorporar ese "relleno" a la historia principal. Ahí Majora's Mask es el rey indiscutible.

Yo todavia no me he encontrado con relleno en un Zelda, la verdad.

(08-01-2014 13:51)alone snake link escribió:Yo todavia no me he encontrado con relleno en un Zelda, la verdad.

Que no?

WW y TP son un relleno en si mismo.

(08-01-2014 10:44)Kai Motoyima link escribió:No está mal el artículo, pero si le haces caso, todo en un juego es relleno .

Equilicua.

pues yo no he visto tal.

Como mucho relleno habria que meter las secundarias y cosas de esas, pero ni siquiera las consideraria como tal.

(08-01-2014 14:19)alone snake link escribió:pues yo no he visto tal.

Como mucho relleno habria que meter las secundarias y cosas de esas, pero ni siquiera las consideraria como tal.

Lo de Wind Waker es relleno:

Consigue los mapas, descífralos... Espera, que no tengo rupias. Vete a por rupias, vuelve a descifrarlo, consigue la pieza de trifuerza. Y vuelta otra vez hasta tenerlas todas.

Para activar la Espada Maestra tienes dos mazmorras (y muy chulas, la verdad), ¿por qué no hicieron dos o tres mazmorras más para la trifuerza? O una sola, tipo mazmorra final overpowered en el mar, pero no esa búsqueda.

A mi no me parece tal que así, además de que siguiendo esa línea creo que no existiría un juego sin relleno, y si lo hubiese, duraría 20 minutos

Cada juego tiene sus cosas, igual a alguien que le aburra o no le guste X parte le parezca relleno, pero yo creo que no es así.

Me figuro que la intención que tenían al poner la búsqueda de la Trifuerza era hacer que se navegase mucho por ahí, ya que era la función innovadora del juego, pero exageraron.

Lo del relleno es algo muy abierto a interpretaciones.

En un Zelda se podría considerar como relleno prácticamente todas las tareas obligatorias entre mazmorras, en especial las que requieren backtracking. ¿Volver a por Marin para que le cante a una morsa en Link's Awakening? ¿Buscar a Saria para aprender su canción y tocársela a Darunia en Ocarina of Time? Hay docenas de ejemplos como estos, incluso en las entregas mejor valoradas.

Se puede llamar relleno a todo aquello que retrase la entrada en una mazmorra, pero creo que es un error, porque parte de la gracia de muchos juegos reside precisamente en este supuesto relleno. La clave está en si estas tareas aportan algo nuevo, son divertidas de hacer o simplemente retrasan el progreso sin dar nada a cambio.

Un caso reciente es la búsqueda de los dragones en Skyward Sword. Tras superar la sexta mazmorra, es fácil tardar más de dos o tres horas en llegar a la séptima. He visto a gente quejarse de ello, y tienen su parte de razón, pero yo no puedo evitar verlo de otra manera. En esas dos o tres horas hay una pelea contra un jefe en el cielo, una sección de sigilo sin ítems, una recolección submarina y una zona completamente nueva para superar en el desierto. ¿Ralentiza el ritmo de la historia? Sí. ¿Era necesario? No. ¿Resulta divertido? Ahí la gran cuestión, cuya respuesta varía de un jugador a otro. En mi caso es un sí rotundo.

Donde sí creo que Nintendo debe meter tijera es en la exposición, tanto de la trama como de las mecánicas jugables. O lo que es lo mismo, menos tutoriales e interrupciones (que jamás de los jamases se repita el caso Fay). Introducir la historia y el mundo lo más rápido posible y dejar jugar el resto del juego, como hace A Link Between Worlds. Con eso y algo de creatividad, se puede meter "relleno" sin que se haga pesado.

Primero tendría que jugar un Zelda para valorar este artículo

(08-01-2014 15:11)Franchuzas link escribió:Lo del relleno es algo muy abierto a interpretaciones.

(...)

Donde sí creo que Nintendo debe meter tijera es en la exposición, tanto de la trama como de las mecánicas jugables. O lo que es lo mismo, menos tutoriales e interrupciones (que jamás de los jamases se repita el caso Fay). Introducir la historia y el mundo lo más rápido posible y dejar jugar el resto del juego, como hace A Link Between Worlds. Con eso y algo de creatividad, se puede meter "relleno" sin que se haga pesado.

E ya.

Aunque lo de Saria es "necesario", porque te persentan los Lost Woods (donde puedes obtener mejoras para el Tirachinas y algunas piezas de corazón) y el Sacred Forest Meadow, al que tienes que volver después y en el que ves cambios, teniendo además relevancia en la historia porque después no ves a Saria. Y además con esto ves el baile de Darunia .